Priyanka, Neighbor

It may come as a surprise to you that in Bucks and Montgomery Counties, which have a reputation for being affluent suburbs, there are approximately 125 young adults who are in the process of aging out of the foster care system. Their foundations are nonexistent. Their families are gone or unknown to them, and they are left to fend for themselves at 18.

Many of these young adults have overcome obstacles that would upset, frighten, and/or startle you. They have been forced to bounce from foster family to group home and back again, more times than they can count. At 18, they are emancipated, often unable to afford and insufficiently qualified to continue their education. They are let out into the real world to fend for themselves without any kind of support system.

Our mission is clear. While we are supportive of government programs to assist the underprivileged, we are dedicated to providing our Fellows with the resources that will put them back on a level playing field with their more privileged peers. In this way, they will live their own lives and raise families without government assistance. Self-sufficiency is imperative.

It is our hope that our Fellows will pay it forward, helping others like themselves in the future. It is my hope that they build a career and a family – a life after foster care – so that their past does not define their future.